Originally from Lancaster, OH but living now outside Atlanta in Buford, GA. After having a Traeger and a Pit Barrel Cooker, I now have a PG 500 that I truly love!
Florence, SC had a SM25 for 8yrs. wouldn't trade it for the world. It's perfect size for my family. Cooks everything perfect.
Hi everyone, I'm Aria! Very nice forum!
I love cooking, especially grilling and smoking 
Thanks for the add. Not new to smoking, just new to having a dedicated smoker. Thanks to a friend of mine who introduced me to Cookshack. Should arrive in the next week and hopefully break it in over the 4th! God Bless America 🇺🇸
Welcome to the forum! If you let us know what kind of smoker and what you like to cook, some people here will probably jump in to give tips and advice. We all love our CS smokers and there are some real experts here on the various types.
I ordered the SM025 directly thru Cookshack. Karen was very helpful answering a few questions. Previously did my smoking indirectly on my gas grill using a smoker box. Mainly smoking baby backs or chicken legs or wings. Looking forward to some pork butts and beef briskets, whole chickens. Looking forward to the CS smoking experience!
My Amerique will not get up to temp. Tested empty cooker in 80 degree weather today. set it for 300 and after two hours, cooker topped out at 245. Any ideas? For what it is worth, the cooker temp gauge and two different oven thermometers all agreed on the 245 temp.
Spartyon: I would call Cookshack direct. They are very good about helping out. You will be talking directly to the people that built your smoker. They will walk you through how to diagnose what the problem is. I don't know how long you have had your unit, or how clean it is. I have been running mine for a long time and need to clean it up again. There is a little probe that sticks out of the inside back of the smoker. Every time I have had any problems with temps, I either needed to clean the probe, or I had something to close to it.
I think Mike is on to something. You either have a probe problem, or a controller problem, or a heater problem . Something is telling the heater to shut down with an actual internal temp that is less than the set temp. Or, all the heat it can put out is not enough. For my AQ, I've never tried to cook as high as 300, so I can't say what my cooker's response to that is. It might be that that's the best it can do if your doors don't seal well and insulation is old. Best call CS.
Hello from the mile high city. I'm Ron. Denver seems at times to have lost it's culinary compass when it comes to bbq. I don't consider national chains to be an adequate substitute for a genuine independent que restaurant.
Welcome to the forum! I used to live in the neighborhood (northern NM) and we had a few really good places. We're here to help, so let us know what you cook, on what, and what your ideas/questions are. There are still some real experts lurking here.
Hi Jay,
I used to spend a lot of time online browsing the forums and life kind of got out in front of me for awhile, along with a desire to lose some weight, so I haven't used the smoker much. I love my SM066, but I am going to have to see how well it maintains temp now that the "bomb cyclone" blew it over onto it's face last year and bent the alignment of the hinges.
BBQ around my area seems to be Famous Dave's or Dicky Betts. There was one local independent a few years ago but I didn't care for their product. Apparently not alone in that as they lasted about six months.
Baby backs in the menu for today and gonna throw a pork butt in overnight.
Have a good weekend
Ron
Good morning, I'm Ron from Aurora, Colorado, and I started with a CS SM 045 about 10 years ago before upgrading to an SM066 several years ago. I probably don't use my smoker anywhere near as often as most customers, but when I do I enjoy it very much. I'm a 40+ year engineer in the telecom and broadband industry, and in a few years I hope to be doing a lot more Q-ing as every day will be a Saturday. Lisa and I are empty nester's who enjoy wine, cooking, travel and music.
Cheers!
Hi... have been with this forum since 2003 but not really getting the hang of this new forum. Think this is my first post in about 6 years. Have a model 55 which is built like a tank and has been working without a hitch for the last 15 years. Do most everything with it including salmon, double smoked bacon, turkey and the usual ribs and brisket. If you haven't tried it, look for the recipe for "Smokey Joe's". Very good for serving to groups. Would like to try a meatloaf but wife says she doesn't want smoke on her meatloaf. I guess that's ok but maybe I'll do one just for myself some day.
@qnorth - Smoked meatloaf is one of my absolute favorites!!! It's worth doing just for yourself... otherwise, I would happily come help you taste test it!
@AlertAler23 - Welcome! Lots of friendly folks with lots of knowledge around here. Traffic kind of ebbs and flows, but throw your questions into a post and give it a couple of days and you'll get some good replies...
Welcome back, qnorth! The new forum takes some getting used to, but It works ok. Categories don't separate easily since new posts re always on top, but you can find the original categories if you search.
Dale from East Texas. Looking to get a FE500 in the near future. Not new to smoking but new to pellet smokers. Thanks for all the good info.
cheers @Drains! Look forward to joining you in your journey! Keep us posted!
Been lurking for a while on n off, about time I surfaced and said hi,, HI.,...
Have SM 160 ( that's packed up ) will get to looking at is soon to see what the problem is.
Best Regards
Nick